Pricing With Competition in Mind

Hello World,

Today I just want to talk about pricing your home with competition in mind. First off, I am going to list some stats for some of our local surrounding areas.



So there you have some meaningful numbers to take in and think about if you home is currently listed or you were thinking about listing it.  The majority of Realtors that I have dealt with over the years weigh sold comps very heavily when pricing your home.  I think this is fine if you use this method.  However, if you are wanting to actually sell your home, look at current listing comps.  Why do you care what a house down the street sold for, if the there is another one just like yours that is an active listing?  Let me put it this way; if 5 houses similar enough to yours sold for $150,000, your home would probably safely list at a similar price.  That's true enough, but still taking that into account, there are 5 homes similar enough to yours that are currently on the market for $115,000 to $125,000.  Still think you can sell your home for $150,000?   Which homes do you think that buyers are going to be drawn to and write an offer on first?

Certain markets require different strategies in order to find success.  I believe that Albert Einstein said " The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."  This can be said for many currently listings out there.  Some sellers always want to start too high, " and just wait for an offer."  Truth be told, you are much more likely to receive a full price offer on an appropriately priced home than you are to receive a low-ball offer on an over-priced one. 

Right now, we are very much in a BUYERS market.  There is a LOT of inventory and buyers have more than a few options to choose from when searching for their next home purchase.  In this day and age with the internet, buyers have many tools at their disposal.  County tax look ups, owner purchase information, websites estimating value. etc..  In most cases, a buyer can realize that your house is over-priced before they even call a Realtor to request a showing!

Selling a home is a big deal and takes work on the part of both you and your Realtor.  You need to know what your competition is just as much as your Realtor does.  Your house needs to look better and be priced better than your competition if you expect to sell before they do.  If you want to list your home for sale and be the last one to sell, please make sure your home looks much worse and is priced higher.  Your competition will greatly appreciate it.  I know this seems harsh, but the reality is just that; reality.  Over priced homes do nothing but increase the owner's carrying costs, increase the Realtors advertising costs , time, etc., and most importantly they help their competition sell their homes faster!

In a buyer's market, they are the ones that set what your home is worth.  Appraisals are great for a refinance, but they do not matter to buyers.  If a buyer does not see the value in your home that it has appraised for, your home is worth less to them.  This is not meant to be doom and glood, it is just a little insight into buyer and market habbits.  Just make sure that both you and your Realtor are doing the homework necessary to know that you arent just listing your home, but taking the steps to actually SELL your home.

I hope all is well!

Until next time.....

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